Towneley from A to Z
Towneley from A to Z
The bed fuan235 that has been in Room III in the Long Gallery since 2002 is an oak tester bed probably made in Lancashire around 1620. Its carving suggests it was made for the wedding of a local Catholic family. It was purchased at auction in May 1993 (see below) with a grant from the V&A and support from the Stocks Massey Bequest. The museum archive contains a detailed file on the bed, its probably history and how it was furnished.
Lot349 A fine James I carved oak and inlaid Tester Bed, decorated in bold relief with foliate stems, paterae and rose heads with lozenges, S-scrolls and stylised pelican's heads, heightened with punch ornament, the panelled canopy centred by a stylised floral lozenge with a meander cornice, the headboard with a chequer arcaded frieze bearing the initials R H and A H, with arcades below with recessed panels inlaid with chequer vases and floral sprays, between similar stiles with plain panels below and plank foot board, the free-standing end posts with turned and cup and cover stiles, on rose decorated stop fluted square columns, with minor alterations and adjustments to the height. With box sprung base and horse hair mattress by Heals, 193cm high, 205cm long, 139cm wide.
£20,000-30,000
The finely carved and punch heightened lozenges and flower heads on the backboard and foot posts are found on a small group of known pieces which have been attributed to both Lancashire and Yorkshire.A coffer with a similarly carved frieze is in the Bloody Tower, the Tower of London, on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum and illustrated in the Dictionary of English Furniture, Volume II, Antique Collector's Club, 1983, Page II, Figure 20.
The same decoration is also found on a cupboard at Browsholme Hall, Lancashire, and discussed by Susan Bourne in the Journal of the Regional Furniture Society, 1987, Vol. One, Page 24, Figures 5 and 7. This is associated with Richard Tournalay and has been tentatively dated between 1607 and 1628. It has the alternating lozenge design and flowerheads of a slightly different design with the addition of dentil mouldings.
All three pieces also share the unifying feature of repeated carved beaks or pelican heads, an attribute of Charity personified.